Chances are that if you saw the Doobie Brothers, The Marshall Tucker Band, Dickey Betts & Great Southern, or America in the last 30 years, you saw Chris Berardo open the show. With his band the DesBerardos, Chris has been delivering a sound that is one part Americana and two parts Laurel Canyon. His smoky vocals sit on top of a world-class band and whether they are in full force, or appearing as an acoustic trio, The DesBerardos command attention, with songs of hope, inspiration, love, and the human spirit.
It’s a rootsy kind of Americana that’s as authentic as it is sincere and is a sound that’s been honed on stages large and small, in honky tonks and arenas.
On the heels of 2020’s single “Somewhere Blue,” Chris now returns with a new album, the imminent Wilder All The Time (all produced by David Abeyta, formerly of Reckless Kelly). It’s something his fans have been waiting for and material that will only broaden his appeal and connect more deeply to those who have championed his career for years.
One of rock’s most endearing and entertaining live performers, Berardo and his band have a quick comedic sense with great stage banter – and even better performance chops. Copper had the chance to catch up with him about the new record, the recording process, and how his release of new holiday music at the end of the year is almost becoming a tradition as predictable as Santa sliding down the chimney.
Ray Chelstowski: You have a new album, Wilder All The Time, coming out; your first full-length in a while. You have said that it has a classic rock feel. What does that mean, and how did you select the songs that made the final cut?
Chris Berardo: Well, we were trying to get a little more of the feel of how the live shows always were, which was a little rougher and more rock energy than the previous records, but still keep a lot of the acoustic and rootsy elements we’ve always had. I guess that kind of feels to me like what I love about a lot of those great ’70’s bands that I was raised on, and this was just bringing out more of that side of the band sound and these songs.
I guess I had 15 – 18 songs around that I cared about, and since I hadn’t been in a big rush to put another album out, we got to play a lot of them live pretty often and make some demos, and really get under the hood and see what worked and what felt good. Then we picked the 10 that we thought would sound best coming out of your car with the windows down…
RC: You also have commented on the tracking process for the album, and that you sequenced it so that it would play like a live set. Does that mean that it closes with real rockers?
CB: I absolutely did lay it out that way, which I hadn’t always done before. That helped us choose which tunes to include as well, because it just felt like it should be a cohesive set of music, with an emotional and musical arc, kind of the way albums used to feel…
But to that end, it finishes with a madcap roots-rock freak out followed by a big ballad, which always feels to me like the right emotional punctuation point to go off into the night on.
RC: David Abeyta from Reckless Kelly produced the record. What specifically did he bring to the process?
CB: A lot…we hit it off right away like a tuned-up machine and it was one of the most fun and satisfying musical experiences I’ve ever had.
I was always a huge Reckless fan, and their sound is very much their own and different than mine, but I felt like there were elements of what they did and David’s guitar playing and his production work with Reckless that made me think he’d bring the right touch to what I was trying to get at. It was a lucky stroke.
We were opening a string of dates for them around the Northeast and Southeast and we got to talking in an Irish bar in Boston after the gig, and that got the idea started. He was sensitive to all the starts and stops I had had trying to get what I wanted on record, but it felt right, and from there we just heaved ourselves into it with the kind of open spirit and joy that made it a stone pleasure.
Beyond all that, he also had the big idea to bring in Jay Nazz (drums) and Joe Miller(bass) from Reckless Kelly along with my brother Marc (Marc Douglas Berardo) and Handsome Bill Kelly from our band, so it was three RK guys and three DesBerardos basically as the band on every track. We cut the whole thing in Austin and it immediately felt like a really sweet spot that we hit and also REALLY fun, so that was just some of what David brought to it.
RC: Your recent single “Something’s Gonna Happen” has much more orchestration and has a real majesty to it. Did you intend that when you went to record or did that evolve in the process of being in the studio?
CB: That song was originally somewhat of a product of the pandemic because David and my manager had gotten me set up with a home recording rig for my studio up here so that we could keep working together with him in Austin. That was a new trick for me, and since we couldn’t play with the musicians that we wanted to play with in the room, we decided to try to turn that into a positive by throwing all the usual approaches out the window and just going for whatever felt good and exciting. I had a song I’d just written, “Something’s Gonna Happen,” that I knew was a little different for me, and I asked David if he was interested in recording a thing where there are organs and hands clapping and girl singers and tambourines and everybody dances and soul shouts, and when he asked me what would possibly make me think there was any way in the world that he wouldn’t want to do that, we dove in!
I played the piano and sang my parts and banged on things up here in the woods in Connecticut, and he did most everything else there in Texas, and we put on strings and it was really, really joyful to heave ourselves into it. I think he did some really high-level work there. It’s like six and a half minutes long and it turns into, like, a 7-inch dance track from the old days, and we both loved doing it! Like a lot of folks at that time, we were looking to make something out of a tough situation and I think we did.
RC: You’ve recently signed with Blue Élan Records. What do you like most about this partnership so far?
CB: Well, I had a deal with a big major label right as the pandemic hit, and [it] stalled everything. As we were trying to regroup I just had the overwhelming feeling that a lot of people at a place like that were not really in the business of “music” and that a guy like me at this point in my career was just going to be lost there. I was grateful for the opportunity, believe me, but my manager was working on a lot of stuff with Blue Élan and it just sounded like a great place to me, like a real throwback to a label that’s actually [about] music first and artist first.
They had a whole bunch of artists on the label that I absolutely loved and admired, artists with long, important histories and great new ones as well. I watched them back up the claims that they made about nurturing artists and putting the art before the numbers of it all, and I was really excited when they wanted me to throw in with them. I’m excited now and really looking forward to working with them.
RC: You are just back from another year at SXSW (music festival). How has the festival evolved since you’ve been going and what was this year’s best memory?
CB: Well, I started going down to SXSW probably 20 years ago or more, just nosing around and discovering all the great music and drinking all the free beer at first, but pretty quickly after that me and the band started going down and playing all the really great unofficial parties and showcases all over the place for days at a time, which led us to start touring through Austin and the rest of Texas several times a year until it’s become almost a second home.
Over the last six or seven years we’ve been an official SXSW artist and although we still play the cool day parties and unofficial events, the best “official” showcases that we get to do are at the legendary Saxon Pub, where we have played for 20 years whenever we get to Texas. During the festival, my manager, Ann Henningsen from 360 Degrees, runs what I and a lot of folks think are the best showcases in town, with really incredible acts from all over the world, but with an emphasis on “Austin Royalty” – Michael Martin Murphey, Walt Wilkins, Jon Dee Graham, Fastball and so many others). Those nights are a ball and very special and make me really proud to be a part of it all.
The festival is bigger and bigger every year, but I still find myself checking out the same smaller joints that I love and seeking out the great and eclectic music there that turned me on to the scene in those early days.
RC: You seem to have a special relationship with The Cutting Room in New York City. What do you think makes that space so special?
CB: Well, it’s really become the best showcase venue in town, and it looks and sounds great. They’ve opened the doors for me to film a couple of videos there, which were really fun days that I appreciate, and they let me and the guys stay pretty late at the bar most of the time.
The live music clubs have really struggled in New York in the past decade or so, but these guys and a handful of others keep the great tradition alive. Nothing stays the same but it’s still New York City! It’s tough, but it means a lot.
RC: You’ve also had a great relationship with some of the great legacy acts. How did that develop and what is the glue that holds it all together?
CB: Well, we’ve been really lucky to play a lot of shows with people I consider heroes, and that has been fantastic…certainly the aforementioned Reckless Kelly, who are just about my favorite band, guys who have become real friends. Same goes for our pal Richie Furay, who is as much the architect of country rock music as anyone and it’s no mystery why he’s in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Richie has had us along on so many shows, [has] graciously let me play my songs to his audiences, and [has] become a real friend to me and the guys. The Marshall Tucker Band meant a lot to me growing up, and playing shows and becoming pals with those guys is really great. Being asked on several occasions to join the Doobie Brothers on stage to sing “Listen To The Music” – as well as a bunch of times singing “A Horse With No Name” with America, is like the childhood dream payoff, that also lets you see up close how the great ones go about their business and why they have endured. Those kind of artists are a master class and that makes us lucky.
RC: You are becoming known for recording some really fantastic holiday songs. Do you think this year will close out with one more?
CB: Well, thank you! I’m like Perry Como, right?! In 2022 we put out my holiday song “This Year” and backed it with “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” a song I have always loved – although my mom sings it better – but that was a surprise and it felt really good. We’ll see if me and David catch the spirit this year and give it another try, although I’m thinking that there are a lot of holidays with less competition for airplay – maybe I’ll try to corner the market on Arbor Day tunes? Do they have a song for the anniversary of the opening of The US-African mail service?!
Header image courtesy of Tod V. Wolfson.
